What it Means to be Human
by timaeusGnostic
Summary: JadeKat AU where Jade is an astronaut that ended up on Alternia. Jade was captured by the young trolls, and they were put in charge of her. Rated M for violence, torture, and language.


Your name is Jade Harley. You wake up, and your head hurts. You blink, and try to move your arms, but you fail. You hear voices in the other room. Three female voices and three males. You listen in.

"Feferi, you can't be serious, this is vvery important!"

"I know -Eridan, but w)(y do we have to torture the alien?"

Are they talking about you? Yes, they are.

"Oh shut up and stop 8itching already!"

"N0, SH3 M4K3S A V4L1D P10NT, VR1SK4. WH4T L4W D1D SH3 BR34K?"

"MaYbE YoU AlL ShOulD JuSt cAlM DoWn, yOu tOo tErEzI."

"GAMZEE LIKE YOU KNOW BETTER!"

"Karkat, t)(at's not the point rig)(t now!"

You groan, you can't keep quiet any more. They lower their voices, whispers ensue. At least you can name each person, or alien really, you think. Four enter, two females and two males. After, the remaining two enter. They all had zodiac signs, you noticed. The male with the cancer sign looked at you, and then looked away with shame. He dragged the one with the Pisces sign away, at command of the one with the purple streak in his hair, and the Aquarius sign. That one was Eridan, you though, from the odd way he spoke. The male with the Capricorn sign followed them out, calling out the names Karkat and Feferi in the odd way of speaking associated with the one named Gamzee. So that left Eridan, Vriska, and Terezi in the room with you. Scorpio, Libra, and Aquarius. Why did the weird aliens with zodiac signs have gray skin anyways? And does the color their sign in matter? Do you actually care at this moment? No, especially now that they are talking again.

"Well well well, looks like the 'str8 a' alien woke up."

You recognized the voice with Scorpio as Vriska, leaving Libra as Terezi. You look to her, then Terezi, then Eridan. Then you look down. They stripped you down to a sports bra and shorts, funny what you wore under your space suit. Then you look back up at Vriska.

"WH4T 1S Y0UR N4M3? WH4T SP3C13S 4R3 Y0U? H0W M4NY 0F Y0U 4R3 TH3R3? 4R3 M0R3 C0M1NG?"

You think back to your space training and how to deal with alien encounters. If you are captured, you are to say nothing. So you keep your lips shut.

"The 8itch isn't gonna talk until we hurt her."

"If I may, wwhy do you think she's refusing? I think she's probably got an army wwaiting for her."

"1'LL G3T TH3 WH1P."

"I 8etter get to use it on her."

A whip huh? You guess they are going to torture you, but you refuse to break. You can't, you promised yourself, and the space program you were in, you wouldn't. Terezi left, and brought back a whip. Well, you wait for Terezi to repeat the questions. And once she does, you do not answer. Vriska takes the whip from Terezi, snapping it once at the ground to make sure she was good and ready. Then, crack. It hits your stomach, causing you to scream out in pain as you can already feel it becoming a welt. Then again, this time from your left hip to your right shoulder. Another scream. She then moved to your back. Three hits, and you were in tears. Maybe you weren't strong enough for this. The pain was harsh, but you told yourself over and over again it was for the humans, and it didn't matter.

Next, they brought in the troll, as you discovered through them talking that that was their race name, named Equius. He had the Sagittarius sign, you noted. He kept talking about how he was the strongest. Vriska had him repeated punch your face, yet not break your jaw so you could speak. They mixed his punches, with her whipping. You spat blood out of your mouth, and your cheek was cut, but you still didn't speak. That's when Feferi burst in. She was escorted out by Eridan, when Vriska called for a break within the torture. So she, Terezi, and Equius-whom you thought was the creepiest troll-left you alone.

You spit again, you can still taste the blood in your mouth. And then silence. It was darker now. It might be night, you shut your eyes. Then the door creaks open, and the lights flick on. You open your eyes to lay your eyes on the cancer troll, Karkat. He brought in a small bowl with water, and a washcloth.

"I REALLY SHOULDN'T BE DOING THIS. BUT YOU LOOK RATHER PATHETIC HANGING THERE. PLUS, I'M SUPPOSED TO MAKE SURE YOU DON'T SLEEP."

He walks towards you, and you flinch. He sighs.

"I'M NOT GOING TO HURT YOU. I'M JUST GOING TO WASH YOU THE STUPID BLOOD OFF YOUR STUPID FACE. THEY REALLY DID A NUMBER ON YOU, HUH?"

You weakly nod, trusting that he wouldn't hurt you. He dipped the washcloth in the water, and brushed it along your forehead. It was cold. He dipped it again, washing your cheek next. With a final dip, he brought it to your lips. Washing it clean, he then placed the washcloth in the bowl. He then looked you in the eye. His yellow eyes met with your green. A gray hand moved towards you, and you flinched.

"I ALREADY SAID I WASN'T GOING TO HURT YOU, STOP THAT. I JUST WANT TO LOOK AT YOU."

He brought his hand to your chin again, and this time, you didn't move. He looked over your face, and then moved his hand to your cheek. It was sore from the punches, and you whimpered when he touched your skin.

"I'M SORRY THEY DID THIS TO YOU. YOU'RE VERY...PRETTY. FOR AN ALIEN THAT IS."

You blink, did this alien, Karkat, call you pretty?

"k-k..kar...kat…"

"YOU KNOW MY NAME? DID YOU OVERHEAR IT EARLIER?"

You nod, it hurt to speak. Karkat gave what looked like a smile, but then went back to an angry look on his face.

"WHAT'S YOUR NAME? WHY WOULDN'T YOU TELL THEM? THEY WOULD HAVE STOPPED IF YOU TOLD THEM WHAT THEY WANTED TO KNOW."

You don't know why, but you trust him. He cleaned you up, and he was awfully close to you. Your lips purse, you shouldn't reply. You know you shouldn't. But you want to.

"i-im not supposed to...say...it…"

You lean your cheek against his hand. It was rough, but you didn't mind. You shut your eyes.

...

Your name is Karkat Vantas, and you cannot believe you are flushing for this alien. Already. Isn't it too fast to flush? You didn't know. But you felt, sympathy, or something to it's effect, for this girl. Or at least, you think it's a girl. You don't pull your hand back, instead you ask.

"ARE YOU A GIRL? DOES YOUR RACE EVEN HAVE GIRLS?"

She giggles softly, giving you a light smile. You cannot believe she can smile after getting beaten. Her voice was barely a whisper.

"y-yes...im a girl…"

"WELL THAT'S GOOD AT LEAST."

Why are you being so nice? You usually are so angry. Maybe it's because you just watched a troll romance movie before you showed up here.

"k-karkat...why...are they doing...this?"

"WE NEED TO KNOW IF YOU ARE A THREAT. YOU DON'T SEEM VERY THREATENING."

Karkat, be the other girl.

…

You are now Jade Harley again. At this point, you pull away.

"i shouldn't speak...anymore"

"WAIT NO. I WON'T TELL THEM. JUST…"

He sighed.

"WILL YOU JUST TELL ME YOUR NAME?"

He muttered something about stupid wriggers after that. Whatever a wriggler is. Maybe...you could trust him with that.

"promise…?"

"YEAH SURE WHATEVER."

"h-harley...jade harley…"

"HARLEY?"

"y-yes?"

You look up at him, you hadn't even noticed that you looked away. And suddenly, his alien lips were on yours. Your eyes widened. You'd never been kissed before, much less by an alien-especially when you were captured. And when he pulled back, you didn't know what to say. He was muttering again, you think he's insulting himself.

"stop that."

"WHAT WHY?"

"dont insult yourself."

"SHUT UP YOU STUPID WRIGGLER YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING."

"i dont know anything?! you kissed me!"

You raised your voice. Since Karkat was already being loud, with no one else having come in yet you figure it was fine. Karkat said he was supposed to watch you, so everyone else was probably asleep.

Karkat leaned in, kissing you again. This time your face darkened. You think the first time you were so surprised your face didn't turn red. He pulled back again.

"Y-YOU LOOKED SO DAMN CUTE...I HAD TO"

You didn't speak. He left. You knew he didn't tell them your name when you woke up they next morning and they demanded to know your name. Every night, it became a regular thing for Karkat to visit you. For weeks, you endured torture, which was lessened by the presence of a troll that may have stolen your heart in an instant.


End file.
